A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



A curious modern industry of Nottingham is 

 that of the collection in the surrounding meadows 

 of worms, which are carried to various parts of 

 the country and sold for bait. 74 



Various small industries have been carried on 

 in the county from time to time. Candle-wicks 

 were largely manufactured at Gamston, 76 also at 

 Retford. 76 One halfpenny per Ib. was paid to 

 the poor for carding candle-wick, and id. per Ib. 

 for spinning it, in the ijth century ; id. per Ib. 

 being charged for pulling the ' middling ' (the 

 coarser part) out of it. 77 John Turberville made 

 blacking at Worksop in the 1 8th century, in the 

 form of rolls, or large pastilles. 78 The poor of 

 Sherwood Forest ' made a scanty livelihood in 

 J 755 by gathering fern and selling the ashes 

 when burnt to the soapmakers. 78 Pin-making 

 and wire-drawing were carried on in 1815 by 



Henry Redgate, Hounds Gate, Nottingham, 

 also by Samuel Wood, Leenside ; hand-workers 

 alone being employed at the latter establish- 

 ment. 80 A sword and scythe factory formerly 

 stood on a site at Mansfield, now marked by a 

 mound known as ' Hallam's Grave,' and styled 

 in deeds belonging to the Portland family the 

 ' Island Meadow," the charcoal used in the pro- 

 cess of forging being furnished by the forest, and 

 the iron being supplied by Pleasley Forge. The 

 swords manufactured here were famous for their 

 excellent quality. 81 



The vicinity of Sherwood Forest, and the 

 consequent ready supply of wood, has given rise 

 to the industry of Windsor chair-making, chiefly 

 at Worksop and Wellow, whilst at Edwinstowe 

 wood-carving has been successfully undertaken, 

 notably in 1 864, by Mr. R. I. Tudsbury. 8 " 





COAL 



The county of Nottingham has very early 

 associations both with the actual mining and the 

 industrial employment of coal. 1 Indeed, soon 

 after the middle of the 1 3th century mineral 

 coal was being largely used in the town of Not- 

 tingham itself, and in 1257 Q ueen Eleanor, who 

 had purposed making a long stay there, was forced 

 to leave for Tutbury ' owing to the smoke of the 

 sea-coals.' 2 As there can be no question of any 

 considerable employment of the mineral for 

 domestic use at this period, 3 we may safely con- 

 clude that it was in request as fuel for the lime- 

 burner, the baker, the brewer, and the smith. 



It is quite likely that a certain quantity of coal 

 in 1257 may have been brought from the pits 

 just inside the frontier of Derbyshire, 4 but al- 

 though owing to lack of records we cannot pro- 

 duce definite evidence, it is equally probable that 

 already mining had begun at Cossall and Selston, 

 for only twenty-five years after a mine of sea- 

 coals at Cossall (minerarium de carbonibus marts) 

 was appraised at the yearly value of 2OJ. 6 



Again, towards the close of the reign of Ed- 

 ward I, coal-mining on a considerable scale was 

 certainly proceeding at Selston, 6 for we hear of 

 serious contention about the waste and destruc- 

 tion wrought by the mining operations of William 

 de Cantlow in three dwellings and gardens in 

 ' Selleston,' which Simon de Greenhill and Lecia 



'* Communicated by Mr. R. H. Beaumont. 



ri Pop. Ret. 1831, p. 488. 



76 Piercy, Hist. Retford, \ o. ' Celebrated candles ' 

 were made at Newark ; Gaz. Engl. and Wales, \ 840, 

 p. 546. " Rec. Bon. Nott. v, 260. 



78 Holland, Hist. Worksop, 145. 



79 Four Topog. Letters, 10. 



80 Blackner, Hist. Nott. 251. 



61 Groves, Hist. Mansfield, 256, 367. 

 M White, Hilt. Worksop, 629, 787, 666. 



his wife held from William de Cantlow for term 

 of life. In the composition which closed this 

 quarrel the life tenants ' granted and gave up to 

 the Lord William all mines and diggings of coal 

 and iron with appurtenances in all lands and 

 tenements in the said township of Selleston for 

 the digging, selling, carrying and convenience of 

 the said Lord William and his heirs with free 

 ingress and egress to the same through the said 

 township as it may be more expeditious for him, 

 without opposition from Simon and Lecia during 

 their lifetime.' For this release Simon and Lecia 

 were to receive annually (during the working of 

 the mine) thirty cart-loads of coal which they 

 could deal with at their own pleasure. Mineral 

 coal was evidently by this time recognized as a 

 valuable incident of land wherever it was found 

 basseting to the surface. 



Towards the middle of the I4th century we 

 again hear 7 of the mining at Cossall, when 

 William de Smalley of Stanley gave notice that 

 he had granted to Richard Stour of Nottingham 

 ' that half portion of the mine of sea coals and 

 culms with appurtenances in the township and 

 fields of Cossall which Henry son of Peter of 

 Cossall had of the gift and feoffment of Henry 



1 For a description of the geology of this coalfield 

 and an account of the chief seams the reader is referred 

 to y.C.H. Notts. i, I et seq. 



* Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 203. 



* Even as late as the reign of Elizabeth, wood from 

 Sherwood Forest was largely used in Nottingham for 

 domestic fuel, though by that time, as Camden re- 

 marks, ' many employed the offensively smelling dug- 

 up coal.' 



4 V.C.H. Derby, ii, 349. 



6 Chan. Inq. p.m. file 37, no 7 (l I Edw. I). 



6 P.R.O. Anct. D. B. 3216. 



7 Stevenson, Rec. Boro. Nott. \, 144. 



324 



